No-Name Bao Zi (Filled Buns) and Rou Jia Mo (Meat-filled Burgers) Trailer

I'm starting to see great potential in Madison's Chinese food scene!  I can't believe I said that, but one visit to the bao zi trailer on N. Mills and University Ave. on the University of Wisconsin campus made me somewhat "glass half full!"

 

I have no idea why the trailer doesn't market itself better with at least a name so admirers can spread the word.  Afterall, they did go as far as paint nearly all that's on their menu on the trailer...in Chinese...

 

This awesome trailer focuses on Chinese pork steamed buns 包子 (bao zi) and Shaanxi-style "burgers" 肉夹馍 (rou jia mo).  Besides these two items, they also have daily specials that they write in Chinese.  I don't know what advice to give besides go with a friend who can read Chinese or be adventurous and point to one of the specials to try out.  I believe the bottom special remains the same everyday, 豆浆 (dou jiang) soymilk.  

 

包子 "Bao Zi" and 肉夹馍 "Ro Jia Mo"

Daily Specials in Chinese

Unlike Dumpling Haus, the bao zi here tastes homemade rather than frozen.  This trailer serves up authentic baozi.  The quality of the filling is high.  It's juicy and flavorful without being too oily.  My fear with dumplings and baozi when I'm eating out is that they would just fill it with low-quality meat or drown the ingredients in oil.  No worries here!  

Shaanxi-style burger and bao zi

 

The Shaanxi-style burgers are delicious but very different from what is shown in their trailer photo. Instead of sliced roasted pork, the meat is ground or finely shredded and chopped braised pork. It doesn't have the smokiness and crunchiness that I expected from their menu photo. It's also a lot bigger too! Even with these disparities, the burger is juicy, fluffy, and super filling. Perfect for cold, damp days. 

East Side King at the Grackle

East Side King at the Grackle

I've been hankering for a taste of Asian comfort food from chef Paul Qui's affordable East Side King for a very long time.  However the evening hours of the one at Liberty Bar never worked out for me for some reason so I was delighted to learn that the one at the Grackle serves lunch!  When two friends proposed to have a farewell trailer lunch, I seized the opportunity to check out this spot.

The menu of East Side King at the Grackle focuses on grilled, Asian-inspired flavors.  

We each ordered 3 different lunch specials that all came with rice and grilled Romaine salad: B. had the yakitori (chicken), pork ribs, achara, and kewpie mayo; M. had the yakitori, nasu (eggplant), achara, and kewpie mayo; and I had the yakitori, pork belly, apple, and kimchee.

Lunch Specials A, B, and C

Grilled Nasu (eggplant)

Pork Ribs

Yakitori (chicken) and Pork Belly

This might sound terrible, but these lunch specials remind me yakitori vendors in mall food courts.  However, it's a gazillion times better!  The meats are extremely flavorful but isn't drenched in some ridiculous, gooey, starchy "teriyaki" sauce.  The condiments made everything extra fun to eat.  The meats were grilled to perfection, but the grilled Romaine with Tom-Yum mayo was a surprising hit to us.  It was buttery, nicely wilted, but still retained a bit of a crunch.  

I hope I'm lucky enough to try East Side King at Liberty Bar before I leave!  The Thai Chicken Karaage (Deep fried chicken thigh with sweet & spicy sauce, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeño) and the Curry Buns (Peanut butter home made curry in deep fried bun, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion and jalapeño) are calling out to me!

Cutie Pie Wagon

Cutie Pie Wagon

After a day of classes, I decided to buy a snack.  I craved something...I didn't know what, just something from a trailer I haven't visited before.  After menu-shopping at the various trailers parked on South Congress, I settled on the award-winning Buttermilk Pie at Cutie Pie Wagon.  It was pretty expensive for this miniature pie, but it was quite delicious.  Not mind-blowing, but enough to satisfy my cravings and allowed me to re-fuel before a night of readings and papers.

Buttermilk Pie

Coreanos

Early this semester, I found out about Coreanos, and was a bit confused because the menu online looks an awful lot like Chi'lantro's.  M and I decided to check out Coreanos' take on Korean-Mexican fusion tacos before dorking out by going to class even though the prof. had cancelled it.

Huge Crowd

We ordered a bunch of stuff to-go and ate in the classroom so the food was no longer hot.  We noted that Coreanos' beef short rib has a better texture than Chi'lantro's beef bulgogi, but I preferred Chi'lantro's lettuce and kimchi topping over Coreanos' bland slaw.  I also preferred Chi'lantro's pork taco over Coreano's spicy twice-cooked pork belly.  Chilantro's fries were more golden and thus more aesthetically pleasing.  Overall, Coreanos offers satisfying Korean-Mexican tacos and is conveniently located. 

Marinated Beef Short Ribs Taco and Spicy Twice-Cooked Pork Belly Taco

Three Wise Fries - French fries, grilled onions, marinated beef short rib, spicy marinated chicken, spicy twice-cooked pork belly, cheese and el scorcho sauce

Seasoned Fries - with el scorcho, spicy ketchup and Korean BBQ sauce

Odd Duck Farm to Trailer and Gourdough's

The cluster of food trailers on S. Lamar is a dangerous place.  It's hard to order just one thing, and the food isn't exactly healthy.  But the food tastes too damn good to exercise self-control for the sake of health.

Odd Duck Farm to Trailer is only open for dinner on Tuesdays - Saturdays.  The menu changes every so often, but you can usually count on there being variations of pork belly slider and quail.  The wait time is rather lengthy, but the food is very well prepared.  I always get whatever pork belly slider is on the menu because it never fails to knock my socks off.

Shredded pork shoulder on toasted baguette with roasted corn and sweet onion

Slider with spiced pork belly, sauerkraut, jalapeno and arugula

Gourdough's is another lethal trailer at this location.  The doughnuts are made upon order, and thus are the freshest and hottest doughnuts you can get in Austin.  The doughnut is light and fluffy.  Perfection.

Gourdough's-Naughty & Nice doughnut

Chi'lantro

I've been following Closet Cooking's creative use of homemade kimchi in omelettes, quesadillas, pizzas, dips, and tacos, and I've been craving anything with kimchi since.  Then I read a timely post by Tasty Touring about the Korean-Mexican tacos served by the moving trailer, Chi'lanro.  Check their website for their location schedule.

I never thought about the possibilities of fusing Korean and Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisines, but I now realize that they share some common ground--spicy, tangy flavors and grilled marinated meats.  The two came together deliciously at Chi'lantro.  I ordered a spicy chicken taco and a beef taco.  At first I thought that the tacos were going to rely on the kimchi to make the fusion happen, but the beef was actually Korean marinated BBQ and not fajita beef, which made the taco a fusion success.  The chicken was good, but not as memorable. 

Beef Bulgogi Taco and Spicy Chicken Taco with Chi'lantro Salsa, Julienne Lettuce in Korean Chili Soy Vinaigrette, Cilantro, Onion, Green Onions, Sesame Seeds, and Lime Juice

I got a side of spicy fries.  The kimchi aioli was a hit.

Spicy Fries with Kimchi Aioli

Franklin's BBQ Trailer

Franklin's BBQ

I decided to cheer myself up after a dreary day at work and before my afternoon and late evening classes with BBQ from Franklin's. 

Franklin's Menu

I ordered the 2 meats combo: sausage, pork ribs, potato salad, and cole slaw.  Wow.  That sausage was the best BBQ sausage I EVER had.  It beats even the highly esteemed Salt Lick's!  The sausage was juicy, tightly packed in the casing, and snapped with each bite.  However, the ribs did not impress.  The rub fell flat on the surface and the seasoning did not penetrate the meat.  I had to rely on the espresso and hot BBQ sauces.  The sauces were too vinegary.  I wanted the espresso to have more coffee bean flavor and less tartness. 

2 meats combo: sausage, pork ribs, potato salad, and cole slaw

I'll have to try the beef brisket next time and of course help myself to another sausage.

La Boîte Cafe

After reading many Austin blogs about the coffee and croissants at La Boîte Cafe, I figured that I shouldn't hold off on my share of "the flakiest croissants in Austin" any longer.  My first impression was that partners Victoria Davies and Dan Bereczki have created a fun twist to an environmentally friendly eatery by reinventing a shipping container's space as a cafe with a clever name.  I had no idea how the food would actually taste.

I arrived too late in the day to get the sold-out almond croissants.  I had to settle with a small café latte and a paper bag of 3 plain croissants.  The latte was deliciously strong.

Croissant

The croissants were indeed delicious.  But I found these to be more dense than flakey (I bought in the afternoon so maybe the flake factor had decreased by that time).  I'm not a pastry expert, so I don't know what characteristics make a true croissant.  I've had a range of greasy and limp croissants to flakey and light ones from various bakeries.  I haven't had a croissant of La Boîte's density and ungreasiness though.  The the croissant had a springy texture as I chewed.  I enjoyed these and will come back earlier in the day on my next visit to try the almond croissants.

Crepes Mille

Crepes Mille

Crepes Mille on S. Congress Ave serves amazingly tasty crepes.

I dislike the texture of most crepe batters. Crepes Mille makes crepes that actually don't get rubbery and egg-y when it cools! I wasn't even able to encounter a crepe that didn't have that problem in Paris!

The creative fillings and toppings skyrocket this little trailer right up my favorite Austin food trailer list. My friend, Elisabeth, and I shared the new Pork Chop Chipotle with asparagus, onions, Monterrey Jack cheese, and smoked chipotle cream sauce and the Sticky Rice Mango Crepe of Yelp fame.

Pork Chop Chipotle Crepe; Sticky Rice Mango Crepe

The Pork Chop Chipotle Crepe was a tangy, mildly spicy, creamy, and smokey concoction, absolutely delicious.

The Sticky Rice Mango Crepe came unexpectedly with organic jam, peanut butter, what looked like corn flakes and chocolate syrup. I would've liked this crepe just the way it was named in capital letters rather than with the additional stuff in the lower case description on the menu. However, it was still pretty darn good!

Sushi A-Go-Go Trailer

Sushi A-Go-Go

I heard of Sushi A-Go-Go right before I went to China, and I found myself in the area recently and thought it a perfect time to rekindle the joy in trying out different trailer food around town. I didn't expect the sushi chef to make my order fresh after I ordered. That was a very pleasant surprise. I expected to get a box of pre-made sushi rolls from the fridge like at HEB. Well, for less than the price of those at grocery stores, you get delicious, inventive, and fresh rolls!

I went crazy and ordered 3 rolls and 3 sauces:

-Sunshine Roll-with salmon, mango, and avocado

-Swamp Roll-Tabasco crawfish, pickled okra

-Superfly Roll-baked salmon skin, cucumber, burdock root, scallion, masago, BBQ eel, and eel sauce

-Mango Sauce-mango, apple vinegar, and sugar

-Green Texas Sauce-jalepeno, cilantro, garlic, mayo, and fish stock

-Go-Go Sauce-chili powder, miso, mayo, vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice, sesame oil, and sugar

Swamp, Superfly, and Sunshine Rolls

I had a lot of fun dipping my sushi rolls in the different sauces so that each piece had a totally different flavor. My favorite roll was the Superfly and my favorite sauce was the Green Texas Sauce. I love the kick of the jalepeno.

Swamp Roll; Superfly Roll

Sunshine Roll

Taste No Evil Muffin Co.

Taste No Evil Muffin Co.

Taste No Evil Muffin Co. is a natural and organic muffin-offering bus on S. Lamar. I'm not a fan of muffins because the overly sweet, greasy, cakey breakfast item from the grocery stores make me sick in the mornings. After reading about them from Tasty Touring's blog, I decided to give Taste No Evil a try. The Blackberry Peach and Strawberry Citrus Sunrise were just the muffins to help me overcome my fear of muffins. Indeed, not all muffins are evil! These muffins are light but packed with fruit. For a person with a strong savory breakfast bias, these muffins sure made a good impression. And for someone who finds grease highly repulsive, these muffins put me at ease because "[t]he butter in this [Strawberry Citrus Sunrise] recipe has been replaced with applesauce making it lower in fat than most muffins you typically encounter, but not less moist."

Blackberry Peach Muffin

Strawbery Citrus Sunrise

Torchy's Revisited

After a long time abstaining from Torchy's due to successive bad experiences with grease overdose, I went back for the Brushfire taco (Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapenos, mango, Sour cream, and cilantro with Diablo sauce) that I always wanted to try. I also ordered the daily special fish taco. Both are "damn good tacos" like Torchy's signage claims. The tacos are not as oily as the last few times I've had them, but it might just be these 2 might be the exceptions. The chips are still quite greasy, but better than I remembered. The queso is still outstanding. Just look at it!

Chips & Queso; Brushfire Taco and Fish Taco

The Mighty Cone = Not So Mighty to Me

I'm totally going to get slammed for this. But this eating experience is seriously an emperor's new clothes moment for me. People rave about Hudson's on the Bend's Chicken Avocado Cones from ACL. I haven't been to ACL yet, so I was super curious. I've also never eaten at Hudson's but always wanted to go. When I read that Hudson's was going to open up a trailer on South Congress (The Mighty Cone), I was excited...over excited.

I ordered the fries and the Deluxe Chicken Avocado Cone and Shrimp Avocado Cone on my first try.

Chili dusted fries

Deluxe Chicken Avocado Cone and Deluxe Shrimp Avocado Cone

When I went in for my first bite, I got a wiff of a semi-revolting smell from either the sauce or cole slaw that was on top of the chicken and ignored it. As I bit into the cone, I was unpleasantly surprised by how hard the fried coating and how dry the chicken were. This was very hard to swallow. The shrimp from the shrimp avocado cone was also super hard. I couldn't even taste the shrimp. Their "special batter" was simply too hard and unimpressive although the list of ingredients sounds unique: sesame seeds, almonds, chili flakes, sea salt, sugar, and corn flakes. The aroma that I intially smelled got increasingly difficult to bear. It hung around in my mouth as I chewed the chicken. This next comment is probably the rudest thing anyone can write about food, but I'm really not trying to be sensational. The sauce or slaw or combination of the two smelled and tasted like vomit. I'm sorry.

I decided to give Mighty Cone another shot with the Cone Dog. Another disappointment. I did not like the texture of the dog, and I've had venison and venison sausage before. I've also had reindeer hot dogs before. None of them disappointed me in texture like this venison dog. On top of the non-descript texture and bland flavor of the dog, the slaw and heavy-handed use of mustard drowned out whatever little taste is in the meat. Utterly disasterous.

Cone Dog-venison meat

Sadly, in all the reviews that I've read, people have expressed that their fries need some work, but to me, it was the only item I could finish without griping with each bite.

Please, can someone explain to me why everyone seems to like these cones????